Archive for October, 2010

We believe in the deliciousness of guacamole.

We also believe in the power of games to do good for the world. We collaborated in the creation of EVOKE, Coral Cross, Survival Horizon and the Foresight Engine with the hopes of affecting actual, tangible change. And that’s why we believe in Gameful — which saw its closed alpha launch this week — as a profound source for world-changing games and the scrappy upstarts that design them.

Selfishly perhaps, we want to get from Gameful what (probably) every member does: invigorating conversation, creative collaboration, critical discussion, and, yes, the opportunity to turn good ideas into great games that people want to play and clients are willing to fund.

What we plan to give is everything we’ve picked up along the way. We will offer insights and admit to our mistakes. We will identify patterns in discussion and connect unlikely collaborators. We will mediate arguments and highlight agreement. All of which, we feel, is simply part of being a good and gameful person.

There are lots of places to discuss serious games, and even more touting the Gamification fad (admittedly, we have little confidence in the longevity of Gamification, for as much as we think it is important to explore and understand). But in the spirit of Gameful we think there is something wholly unique.

In addition to technical and aesthetic contributions, Natron Baxter is minding the early incarnations of Gameful’s Applied Gaming experience — because, well, we believe that Applied Gaming is the evolution of meaningful engagement. It’s our interest to differentiate from the principles of Gamification, and illustrate how thoughtfully applied game mechanics offer unmatched usability cues, nudge and ritualize behaviors, and warm the very cockles of our hearts. Moreover, we hope to collaborate on the winding narrative of Gameful, and latch onto the very human need to not only play games, but to tell and be told stories.

Frankly, it feels like all these things are possible, and thanks in no small part to our co-conspirators Jane McGonigal and Kiyash Monsef, as well as our Chief Architect, Keith Turner. We’re honored to hover in the same hot air balloon as those chums. And we’re pleased as punch to have you along for the ride.

More soon …

Cheers,
The Baxters

It’s been a hot week for the Baxters, with two launches in four days and twice as many Pepcid. A particularly emphatic “huzzah!” goes out to our friends at IFTF, with whom we developed and road-tested the Forecast Engine v1.0 on behalf of the Myelin Repair Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and futures-thinkers everywhere.

Participants in the limited-run event were asked to ruminate on one simple yet profound question: “How would you advise the President to reinvent the process of medical discovery?” With tweet-length microforecasts (1500+ in 24 hours), players then speculated, collaborated, and investigated a stream of dynamic and increasingly diverse ideas. Inspired by the TweetDeck format, the game empowered players to interact with a deluge of content, bounce across abstract ideas, and follow threads of support and rebuttal.

With its smart dose of Applied Gaming, we’d call the Foresight Engine strangely addictive (that is, if we could figure out the difference between the proper usage of “addictive” and “addicting”).

More insight on the intent of the game, industry commentary, player feedback, and a game summary are roundabouts that there internet and on the Twitter.

We’ll hit the ignition on the Foresight Engine v1.1 November 9-10, with upgrades to site usability and numerous bug fixes. We hope you’ll join our cadre of R&D renegades. Or perish!